The Venus of Urbino goes home
Almost five centuries after it was commissioned by Guidubaldo II Della Rovere and painted by Titian, the Venus is going back to Urbino, where it will be on display in the Palazzo Ducale from tomorrow, 6 September, to 18 December 2016.
The painting is on loan from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, where it has been part of the collection since 1736. This enigmatic work was made in 1538 on request of the duke of Urbino. Ten years later, while travelling throughout Italy, Giorgio Vasari recorded the presence of the painting in the ducal guardaroba (or wardrobe). The Venus was transferred to the Villa Imperiale in Pesaro, and eventually arrived in Florence in 1637, together with Vittoria della Rovere and the entire collection of the Della Rovere family. Vittoria, spouse of Ferdinando II de’ Medici, was the last descendant of the dynasty. She brought the Venus to the villa of Poggio Imperiale, her suburban residence.
Source: Il Giornale dell’Arte
Further reading: Art and Love in Renaissance Italy (Metropolitan Museum of Art), with contributions by Sarah Cartwright, Jessie McNab, J. Kenneth Moore, Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Wendy Thompson, and Jeremy Warren (2008).
Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538, oil on canvas, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Posted by Martina Bollini